The Fischers are a new and unsigned band from Blackburn, England. I have been a fan since I discovered their song 'Down The Days' a few weeks ago on their My Space page. It was only today that a couple of other songs were added to their profile. There isn't a lot of information out there on the band.

Singer and Guitarist Jamie was the male lead voice in Tompaulin. It seems that Tompaulin are no more or are possibly on an extended break. And it seems this has galvanised Jamie into getting a new band together. And what a start The Fischers have made. These are rough and ready demo tracks. But the quality of the songs shines through. What do they sound like? A little like Tompaulin, for sure, but I can also hear a host of 60s influences along with more than a few 80s ones. In short, they sound like The Fischers.

The Fischers - Down The Days

Head over to My Space to download the other two songs - 'Call Yourself Alive' and 'Ready Steady Go!'. It's not often that I get excited over a new band that are so, well, erm new. The band are currently unsigned and these tracks are the first signs that The Fischers could be something a little bit special.

The only thing I know about the The Waltones is that Mark Collins went onto be a member of The Charlatans and another member went on to be a member of Medalark Eleven which was the band formed by ex Bodine Mick Ryan.

A quick seach on the net revals that the band released four singles and one album for Medium Cool between 1987 and 1989.

The track here is the title track of their second single released in 1988.

The Waltones - She Looks Right Through Me

[My Space link]
[Discography]

I was having a clear out of some old CDR's when I came across some archives of tracks I had come across a few years ago including this Smiths mega-mix. I thought I would post it as it may interest some. I have no idea of who made it or where it comes from but the dance effect mixing between the songs is pretty appalling! The tracks included are:

Panic
I've Started Something
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Bigmouth Strikes Again
What Difference Does It Make
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
Ask
Girl Afraid

The Smiths - Gold Mega-mix II (19mb)

Daddy Long Legs are a three piece indie rock band from London who released their debut 7" single, the double a-side Captain Aqua/Soup earlier this year.

However if you missed it don't despair as the band have licensed it to the sounds eXPerience label, which is the label set up by contributors to sounds XP including myself, for release digitally. The release has an extra track not available on the 7". Ear Candy said:

Captain Aqua is a mix of The Jam, Gang Of Four and The Who all rolled into one with a spot of tea to wash it all down. “Soup” has a funkier more laid back feel ala The Style Council or maybe The Kinks around “Everybody’s In Show-biz, Everybody’s A Star”. This record has a lot of appeal and would be worth the time and effort to track down a copy.

You can buy it here. The tracks cost 60 pence each.

You can stream the tracks here.

Just some quick words about some other blogs I have been reading of late and all keeping the indie pop banner flying:

xPQwRtz - In my review of the CD86 compilation I mentioned that it would have been nice to seen some rarer tracks on the compilation including those that were only released on flexi. Well never mind CD86 because Crayola has put together his own compilation comprising tracks that were released on flexi or cassette. It can be found here.

It's the fourth compilation he has put together so head to the blog and search them all out.

Lost & Found - Javi posts on an infrequent basis rare tracks from his indie pop vaults. Check out Leeds Station by The Parachute Men who sound better to me now then when I saw them many moons ago!

Coast Is Clear - This German blog finds some great music for indie pop and shoegaze fans. I cannot understand a word of what's written but the music that Parklife finds speaks for itself.

The Rain Fell Down - Krister Bladh might be a name some of you recognise as he wrote the essay on C86 that's hosted on this site. Chris has now moved to Glasgow from Norway and has started a blog reflecting on Glasgow and it's contributions to indie pop as well as writing about all things related to jangle pop and beyond.

Think Small - The UK seems to be attracting our friends from overseas. Martijn has moved from his native Netherlands to Devon UK and this move seems to have coincided with the blog being active again. Welcome back!

Dance To The Sun - Andreas has been posting some good stuff as of late. I have been enjoying the music of The Judys and Trixies Big Red Motorbike amongst others.

Under Blue Skies - Finally Eric has been back and gone again. But he wrote to fine posts in September so check them out.

Thee Power Of Twee - Talking about blogs re-appearing this one is back as well. Just!

Finally, after overcoming my fear of not knowing anything about video-editing, I've prepared 8 video files featuring The Wedding Present live in the venerable Grandrokk in Reykjavik on april 27th this year. The files are .mpg and feature bad lighting, lots of noise which the camera had problems with, and some shaking from holding the camera in the middle of an ecstatic dancing and somewhat drunken crowd.

The files are somewhat big and you might need a decent internet connection, and some available hard-drive space for downloading these. I decided not to bother with making all of them small, the low bitrate reduces the quality of the sound far too much.

I must confess to not having been properly exposed to the Wedding Present in the past (this being Magnusk writing here), and so I don't know the song names, but I did find out that song no. 2 is "Corduroy" and no. 8 is "Octopussy".

To get a low quality/faster loading sample, I prepared a relatively small file, only 11 MB, of "Corduroy".

Corduroy - 11 MB low bitrate .mpg file

All the files are available here.

As it's the weekend of the C86 events at the ICA this podcast has a C86 tinged feel with some classics alongside some of the best new tracks featured on indie mp3 in the past month. Enjoy!

The Close Lobsters - Going To Heaven To See If It Rains
The Brilliant Corners - Teenage
Everyday Sensations - Things We Never Had
The June Brides - In The Rain
Matadorjose - Tired Of Trying
The Rosehips - Room In Your Heart
Strawberry Whiplash - Who's In Your Dreams
Shop Assistants - It's All Up To You
The Vaselines - Son Of A Gun
Actress Hands - Half An Hour
Orange Juice - Falling & Laughing
We've Got A Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It - XX Sex
Tesco Chainstore Mascara - Say Goodbye
The Flatmates - I Could Be In Heaven
The Field Mice - If You Need Someone

Subscribe to the podcast here (copy and paste link into your podcast client) or download direct (29mb)

All tracks taken from the relevant artists page on My Space. I'm not to sure about the legality of some tracks or whether the C86 bands My Space pages are even legal. However if it's good enough for Rupert Murdoch.................

By the way have you noticed that My Space is only allowing 96 k/bit downloads these days? I guess it's due to the fact they will be selling downloads soon themselves.

I must admit that when I first saw the tracklisting for CD86 (compiled by Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley) my head did drop some bit. On first glance it seemed that many of the tracks here have already seen appearances on other compilations such as the recent Rough Trade indie pop vol 1 and the Subway compilations on Cherry Red. It also seemed that the same old tracks were making yet another appearance and that dis-heartened me. Not because they aren't good (some here are classics) but the fact that I would have liked to have seen some rarer tracks get an outing on CD for the first time especially those rare flexi disc releases.

However stepping back away from the above this is a pretty good and indispensable introduction for all those who want to know what C86 was and what it was all about. After listening to it for the past few days I feel more is achieved by this compilation than if the original tape was re-released.

What was C86? It was originally a cassette given away by the NME in 1986 and collated many of the bands from the new burgeoning UK independent scene at the time. However as time went by it soon became clear to many that the NME were trying to invent (or even impose on it's readers) a scene which just wasn't there. The only thing most of the bands had in common were the fact they were on the tape in the first place! Many of the bands were influenced by sixties bands like The Byrd's, Velvet Underground and many of the girl groups. There were also influences from the likes of The Buzzcocks, The Ramones, The Raincoats, Postcard Records and the attitude that Creation Records had.

However the scene, for the want of a better word, has had a greater impact than at first realised with indie pop and shoegazing being two derivative genres that appeared as a result. It also contributed to the rise of indie dance especially where old punk and C86 fan Andrew Weatherall was involved remixing the likes of Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine and creating another movement as a result.

The lack of diversity on the tape meant that it comes in for criticism when compared to it's predecessor C81. That point is somewhat unfair given that music outside the shambling guitar sound didn't have much impact on the NME buying readers at the time. Despite some great bands and tracks on C81, C86 had a much wider influence and is still felt today. Just listen to the likes of Belle & Sebastian, Sarandon, Aberfeldy and the majority of bands coming out of Sweden or the Philippines at the moment. Granted that in the influence stakes Orange Juice and Josef K have given inspiration to the likes of Franz Ferdinand (as well as bands on C86) but at the end of the day banding the term C81 is not going to bring as much recognition as it's successor. And as for C96 we will stop just there!

As previously mentioned this is not a re-release of the tape although tracks that were on it appear here - these include The Bodines classic Therese as well as Primal Screams Velocity Girl a track that will remain forever timeless. The compilation also sees tracks from bands that preceded and influenced C86 (TV Personalities, The Loft, Jesus & Mary Chain) although somewhat bizarrely none from Postcard Records, from bands who were never on the tape but have somehow become synonymous with it (Talulah Gosh, BMX Bandits, June Brides) and tracks from bands who came after many of the C86 bands had long splintered into oblivion (Darling Buds, East Village, Primitives etc).

The expectation was that some bands on C86 were to go and have commercial success. The Mighty Lemon Drops were the clearest example. Hailed by many as the saviours of pop they were dominant between 1985 and 1987 but it just didn't go to plan although they hung on until 1992. They signed to Chrysalis/Blue Guitar at the same time as The Shop Assistants who self imploded after their only album was released although they did re-appear gloriously for a while at the end of the decade. Commercial success did come for The Wedding Present, Primal Scream, The Primitives and The Darling Buds but for many their time had been and gone.

Many of the bands here were on C86 but with different tracks. The tracks here are much stronger than the original submissions and these include Age Of Chance and their industrial stomper Bible Of The Beats, The Wolfhounds Anti Midas Touch and The Soup Dragons Whole Wide World before the latter went all baggy on us.

There are some surprises too. The Fizzbombs appear on CD for the first time with the wonderful Sign On The Line and the original recording of If I Said from the Darling Buds debut 7" also pops up. The addition of these two tracks alone make this a worthwhile purchase as do tracks from bands who never got a look in such as Raw Herbs and Laugh.

This CD still doesn't clear up some myths due to some glaring omissions. The majority of the bands here could be tagged as jangle pop giving belief that C86 was all about twee. It wasn't but non-appearances by bands on the original tape such as Bogshed, Stump or A Witness and appearances by those who weren't such as Talulah Gosh and Sarah label bands like The Sea Urchins and The Hit Parade would suggest otherwise. Other notable omissions include the likes of The Rosehips and Bubblegum Splash whose inclusion would have described the amateurish feel that bands of the era had. These bands may have not been the best ever but their attitude, shambling take on indie pop and the diy fanzine culture that encapsulated them summarised the era better than most although the sleeve notes and some nicely written words by Bob Stanley almost manages to capture this.

Some of the politics also has seemed to have gone missing but this is clearly understandable twenty years on although the current administration is doing it's best to impersonate the mid 1980's Tory government. McCarthy who were followers of the Workers Revolutionary Party appear and reminds us of those despairing days that in the end contributed to many of the bands making music - well it was better than being on the dole a quote I recall from The Shop Assistants whose track Safety Net is the Teenage Kicks of the C86 generation.

Listening to this compilation, which captures the spirit if the era, makes me excited as when I first heard this music which has had a pretty big impact on my life. C86 and issues around it means it has it's detractors but twenty years on and I'm Not Scared To Get Happy once again.

Essential stuff - buy!

The Loveninjas have their new single out now on Labrador. It's the follow up to Keep Your Love and is a taster for the album due next month called The Secret Of Loveninjas. It contains four tracks and Labrador have made a mp3 available of the lead track.

Loveninjas - I Wanna Be Like Johnny C

Buy it from here.

[My Space link]

The Zebras hail from Queensland, Australia and they released their second album Worry A Lot earlier this year although with one member residing in London this is a pretty impresive feat!

The bands sound based on these two tracks from the aforementioned album is somewhere between the jangle pop that followed C86 as well as more than a nod to their fellow Brisbane folks, The Go Betweens. It's catchy, melodic pop music that deserves a much wider audience.

The Zebras - You Look Ready
The Zebras - Science Competition

You can buy the album direct from the band for A$20 inc p&p (£8/$15 approx) - see their homepage for more.

[My Space link]

I have featured the Dutch band Nixon a couple of times over the past year.

In my last review of the band I felt that they needed to expand their horizons and move from being a duo to a band with a full line-up. I doubt my advice had any impact but since then Bert and Albert have been joined by Yuko Murato (keyboards), Erik Van Loo (Bass) and Adri Karssenberg (guitar). The latter used to play in Dutch band Krang whilst the former two have played in the Willard Grant Conspiracy. And has it improved their sound. The simple answer based on a track, exclusive to indie mp3, is yes.

The band's sound still pays homage to alt-Americana and lo-fi indie pop. The addition of other musicians has given Nixon a greater sense of purpose and direction as well as having a fuller, more spacious sound especially with the addition of the keyboards. Heres to more of the same!

Nixon - One Of A Million Stories

The band refreshingly does not have a My Space page. However you can download three EP's from their homepage.

Matadorjose is a chap called Axel Ekström who hails from Helsinki, Finland and I guess that the indie pop phenomenom known as Labrador Records has now crossed the border into his country! Axel plays, writes, sings and records all the songs on his own. Poems by Egdar Allan Poe have also assisted his writing and he is also influenced by indie-pop, Sarah Records and New Order as well as sixties rocker George Fame.

His influences shine through on two of the tracks I have listened too. Tired Of Trying owes more than a nod to Sarah Records and Another Sunny Day in particuliar. Within A Dream has more than a hint of New Order about it and both songs are well crafted and worth intruding on anyones valuable time.

Matadorjose - Tired Of Trying

[My Space link]

About a month ago I placed a voting button on my site for entering in the blogs category of the Digital Music Awards. When the closing date passed earlier this month I thought nothing of it and removed the button.

However tonight I was catching up on messages sent via the contact form and came across a message linking to the results and blow me down if we only came in the top ten - number 10 in fact!

To say I'm chuffed is an understatement so I would like to, on the behalf of myself, Magnus, Larryhag and Lost Music, say a big thank you to all who voted for us. Your support is appreciated and gives us greater encouragement to continue.

The results can be found here and we finished ahead of some pretty decent blogs. And Madonnas!

I have never featured The Housemartins on indie mp3 before but the band could have easily featured on C86 despite their commercial success at the time. If Anxious isn't an indie pop classic then The Magic Numbers are the rightful choice to headline the ICA next Friday night - I will let it go soon, honest!

There was a new compilation of the bands works at the BBC out recently and I was surprised there was not more of their BBC In Concert appearance from Glastonbury 1986 on it.

If you enjoy these tracks buy The Housemartins At The BBC. It's well worth a place in anyones collection.

The Housemartins - Live At Glastonbury 1986 (34mb)

[The Housemartins on Wikipedia]
[My Space link]

The bumph keeps on coming:

Article in The Times
Press Release (via Age Of Chance Info)

From The Fire Escape Talking Blog:

Phil (Wilson, June Brides) was also kind enough to point out that the ICA gigs are not really a C86 anniversary - that link being the ICA's idea rather than Bob Stanley's. All the acts playing next weekend's two nights are relevant to the Hungry Beat documentary, charting indie's birth and rise from Postcard to The Stone Roses.

I have to ask why CD86 doesn't reflect that then! It would be an even better compilation if it did.

Sadly the gigs I wrote about here have been cancelled for reasons unknown at this time. If they are re-arranged or the organisers find another band I will let you know in due course.

EDIT: I meant to say that The Mighty lemon Drops have cancelled and the gig is still going ahead hopefully with the BMX Bandits and others.

Santuary Records who are the label releasing the CD86 compilation have created a page on My Space so you can stream some tracks from the album. Currently playing are Primal Scream, The Hit Parade and BMX Bandits. You can reach the page here.

There is also an e-card which can be found here from where you can stream some more tracks.

If you want to stream more tracks from C86 bands on My Space take at a look at the lists compiled by myself (and others) earlier this year:

C86 & C81 Bands on My Space
C86 & C81 Bands on My Space Pt 2

The album is released in the UK this coming Monday 23rd October 2006.

"This morning I woke up from a deep unquiet sleep
With ashtray clothes and miss lonelyheart`s pen
With which I wrote for you a lovesong in tatoo
Upon my palm `twas stolen from me when jesus took my hand
You see
I wouldnt say it if I didnt mean it" (Lloyd Cole "Lost Weekend")

true love

listen http://www.myspace.com/daysswe

The Lodger have made a selection of early recordings available as a free download. The Leeds based indie posters who are currently recording tracks for their debut album have made seven songs available all taken from early singles and compilation appearances between 2004 and 2005.

The songs are:

Getting Special
Many Thanks For Your Honest Opinion
Not So Fast
Unsatisfied
Watching
We Come From The Same Place
You Got Me Wrong

The Lodger - Many Thanks For Your Honest Opinion

Download all the songs from here - it's on megaupload so look out for those dating service pop-ups!

[My Space link]

The Wombats create another slice of pop heaven with Moving To New York which is the follow up to tunefully addictive Lost In The Post. If you have heard the band before you should know what to expect by now. If you haven't hold your head in shame and take the time to realise that you are missing out on harmonies and melodies alongside witty lyrics sung with youthful conviction. This is pop music as it should be - fun, catchy, accessible, ideal for the moment in hand and ultimately disposable.

What the band achieve in the future remains to be seen but if they carry on putting singles out like this it should be a very bright future indeed.

Moving To New York is out on November 13th 2006 on Kids Records.

[My Space link]

Liechtensteins song "Stalking Skills" have been a favorite of mine for a while now. It´s their first proof of existence, but I sincerely hope that it is not the last.

On their Myspace page they are mentioning bands such as Dolly Mixture, Talulah Gosh, Girls At Our Best, Mo-Dettes, and Shop Assistants. So maybe you can guess what it is all about?

Listen and enjoy: http://www.myspace.com/liechtensteinia

First Of The Giants - Obsessive Compolsive

I have noticed more and more bands playing what I can only describe as an epic sounding version of indie rock which draws it's influences from the likes of Echo & The Bunnymen, Joy Division, Wah! or even early U2. Alongside the obvious beneficiaries of this sound such as British Sea Power or The Brakes I can now add Bristol based four piece First Of The Giants with their latest single Obsessive Compulsive.

Listening to the three tracks that make up the single (with Who Needs Enemies? being the standout track) you soon become aware that it is pretty majestic stuff. Imposing guitars that sound like crashing waves and gliding, soaring vocals imprint their images into the listeners conciousness. You can easily imagine this lot clad in long, dark raincoats standing on a beach with storms overhead circa 1983. Well recommended.

Obsessive Compolsive is out now on Littlethink Records.

[My Space link]

Ballboy have plenty of mp3 downloads on their site including three peel sessions. The band are now doing their own podcasts and these too are free to download. The latest one was released over the weekend and features three songs - If my hangover was a girl and Leave the earth behind and Take a walk into the sunshine. It's well worth a listen.

Ballboy - Podcast Three

Download the other podcasts and various other tracks from the bands music page.

[My Space link]

Actress Hands - Half An Hour

Actress Hands are getting plenty of plaudits right now and based on this single rightly so.

Reminding me of The Brakes clashing with The Wedding Present both sides of this limited edition single takes the form of enthralling indie pop which comes complete with a bold guitar sound and almost J Mascis like vocals to match. With their harmonies and excellent song writing I think these "hands" will not be the only ones applauding as their exposure grows.

Half An Hour backed with the apparent live favourite What's The Name Of The Planet You're From and is released on November 6th on Life Is Easy Records.

Actress Hands - Half An Hour

[My Space link]

The Circuits - Say No Say Yeah

Apparently The Circuits are the hottest prospect on the London music scene right now according to their rather modest press release. I'm not sure on what that is based because the evidence here provides conclusions to the contrary.

The band have spent too much time listening to London Calling and Reggatta de Blanc to come up with anything original. Whilst Say No Say Yeah gets itself into a bit of an agitated state it's hardly awe inspiring and interest wanes before the song ends. The b-side Question Mark Shaped Heart is clumsy, getting itself bogged down between cod reggae and Libertines wannabee territory.

Whilst this sort of music may be new for the gig going youths today I cannot help wondering why, with all those great influences the band claims to have, it results in the equivalent of a musical bore draw.

Say No Say Yeah is out now on Try Science Records.

[My Space link]

I suppose you can call this my contribution to the 20th anniversary of C86 celebrations. I cannot remember who sent me this (it was a while back and I forgot I had it) but a big thanks. This was the year when the Festive 50 was dominated by The Smiths & The Wedding Present but also sees appearances from a number of bands from the C86 tape. Enjoy - best played whilst The Magic Numbers are headlining the C86 gig next Friday night!

1. Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
2. Age of Chance - Kiss
3. The Fall - Mr Pharmacist
4. Primal Scream - Velocity Girl
5. Smiths - Panic
6. Smiths - I Know It's Over
7. Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
8. Shop Assistants - Safety Net
9. Jesus and Mary Chain - Some Candy Talking
10. The Fall - US Eighties - Nineties
11. Smiths - Ask
12. Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
13. Weather Prophets - Almost Prayed
14. Half Man, Half Biscuit - Trumpton Riots
15. The Fall - Living Too Late
16. Wedding Present - Once More
17. Soup Dragons - Hang Ten!
18. Wedding Present - This Boy Can Wait
19. Bodines - Therese
20. The Fall - Bournemouth Runner
21. Cocteau Twins - Love's Easy tears
22. Primitives - Really Stupid
23. Pastels - Truck Train Tractor
24. Billy Bragg - Levi Stubbs' Tears
25. Soup Dragons - Whole Wide World
26. The Fall - Realm of Dusk
27. Age of Chance - Bible Of The Beats
28. Wedding Present - You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends
29. That Petrol Emotion - It's a Good Thing
30. Very things - This is Motortown
31. We've Got a Fuzzbox - Rules and Regulations
32. The The - Heartland
33. Freiwillige Selbstokontrolle - I Wish I Could Sprechen Sie Deutsch
34. Mighty Lemon Drops - Like An Angel
35. Smiths - Cemetry Gates
36. Wedding Present - Felicity
37. The Fall - Lucifer Over Lancashire
38. Cocteau Twins - Those Eyes, That Mouth
39. Half Man, Half Biscuit - Dickie Davies Eyes
40. Elvis Costello - I Want You
41. Billy Bragg - Greetings To The New Brunette
42. Flatmates - I Could Be In Heaven
43. Shop Assistants - I Don't Want To Be Friends With You
44. Mighty Mighty - Is There Anyone Out There?
45. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - By The Time I Get To Phoenix
46. Colourbox - The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme
47. Camper van Beethoven - Take The Skinheads Bowling
48. The Fall - Dktr Faustus
49. Mission - Serpent's Kiss
50. Pogues - The Body of an American

Festive 50 1986 50 to 41
Festive 50 1986 40 to 31
Festive 50 1986 30 to 21
Festive 50 1986 20 to 11
Festive 50 1986 10 to 1

The C86 tape is available here.

Labrador have brought their run of free digital singles to an end with the latest release from The Radio Dept. Titled We Made The Team it's available from Klicktrack for a measley 0.95 Euros which sounds about the price right for a digital track. Actually Klicktrack seems to be quite a resource for Labrador arists and other Swedish music if digital music downloads is your thing.

The band will be recording their third album later this year in Berlin and South America.

Download the previous single:

The Radio Dept. - The Worse Taste In Music

It's John Peel Day today - listen to music and shows from any of these excellent sites.

BBC Radio One John Peel Day Site
John Peel Everyday
The Furtive 50
The Perfumed Garden
Right Place, Right Time, Wrong Speed - The John Peel Tapes
Tribute To John Peel

The Trudy deliver another slice of pop which proves that you can have your cake and eat it! I'm hard pressed to recall if anyone else has provided such consistent and wonderful vocals as Melissa Jo Heathcote has done this year. Firstly on previous single Oh! and now on Lost Summer Of Love this trend continues. The song is a tale of failed summer romance but still manages to jump around with hope and unabashed abandon, demonstrating the art of how power pop should be played. Super stuff.

Lost Summer Of Love is only available as a digital download and you can pick it up here in high quality (320 k/bits) mp3.

[My Space link]

Stereo Test Kit Records have made freely available a three track digital EP by Musika 77. Titled Llanvair Llew it's a tester for the album Brave You Free May which is due for release next week.

Musika 77 are also touring later this month. The dates are:

27-10-06: London / Water Rats Theatre (Club AC30) - w/Audrey
28-10-06: London / The Windmill, Brixton (Sadder Days)
29-10-06: Newport / Meze Lounge - w/Audrey
30-10-06: Lancaster / Yorkshire House (L*A*W*M) - w/Audrey
31-10-06: Leeds / Brudenell Social Club - w/Audrey

Musika 77 - Llanvair Llew

The rest of the EP can be downloaded from here.

[My Space link]

EDIT: These gigs are now cancelled.

The Mighty Lemon Drops have reformed for a couple of C86 celebration gigs which are sadly across the pond. The line up is Dave Newton, Tony Linehan and Keith Rowley. Original vocalist Paul Marsh was not into the idea of playing anymore so Clint Mansell from fellow Black Country band Pop Will Eat Itself is on vocals. Support is from the BMX Bandits who called their debut album C86 after their entry for the C86 tape was rejected!

Dates are:
17/11 - San Francisco - Cafe Du Nord
19/11 - Los Angeles - The Echo

Both of these shows are co-presented by the folks at Part Time Punks, a weekly Sunday night club in LA who will be DJing C86 hits all night long.

There may be a gig on the 18th in Santa Barbara and this will be confirmed either way later.

To download The Mighty Lemon Drops set from the original ICA gig in 1986 visit my Mighty Lemon Drop Site.

[My Space link]

I wrote about Everyday Sensations last week and since then I have been playing Things We Never Had at least five times a day when I have been near the PC.

The band have now made their previous work titled IMAC Hit Parade available as mp3 downloads. These tracks were recorded last year using an IMAC and it's in built microphone and hint at the potential now displayed on the recently released Boxing Days EP. There are fifteen tracks to download including covers of songs by The Trembling Blue Stars and The Wedding Present.

Everyday Sensations - Call It What You Want
Everyday Sensations - Helen Love

Download the rest from their website.

Not that it is my place to say but hopefully someone at Skipping Stones is watching or indeed listening as I think this lot would be ideal for their roster!

[My Space link]

I arrived home earlier today after a weekend walking parts of the South West Costal Path around Swanage and Studland to find that the events at the ICA celebrating C86 has been announced. I'm sure people like myself are, well, just a bit underwhelmed by the bands on offer over the two nights although Phil Wilson and The Wolfhounds should be good!

Why are The Magic Numbers playing was the first thing on my mind as I can think of a number of bands better suited to the event. I don't buy the comment in their case that the bands playing reflect the same spirit of independence as the C86 era artists because let's face it the Magic Numbers play a sound from at least 20 years earlier than 1986!

The ICA celebrates the rise of British independent music, with two nights of live music, DJs, documentary footage and more, co-curated by the ICA, members of St Etienne, Heavenly Recordings, and Rough Trade Shops. Up from the underground, this is the story of British independent music in the 1980's: what we now call 'indie' music.

The line ups are:

Friday 27 October: The Magic Numbers, Gokart Mozart, Vic Godard & the Subway Sect.

Saturday 28 October: Roddy Frame, Phil Wilson, The Wolfhounds (DJs The Pastels)

Tickets are priced £22.50 per night and Saturday looks the better bet.

’He lay down and closed his eyes.
Disappearing to a distant place where the
grass at the edge of the road sparkled with dew,
like silver in the sun.
There, he slowly cycled down towards
the sea and the pier that protruded into it.
This sea , smooth as a mirror,
which as if by an invisible
force sent its waves towards the shore.
He woke up and felt that this is
how life ought always to appear.
He thought that regardless of whether
the days are dazzling or dull, one
must never lose faith or trust.
And above all, he decided that one must never
give up the search for beauty
in life.’


I apologise if the text above is stolen or taken out of context. The reason why I use it anyway is that it pinpoints the influence that beautiful music can have. Because in some strange way, Harper Lee’s music makes me dream away to a place similar to the one mentioned above. Why that specific image appears is, however, difficult to explain.

Maybe, in this case, Keris Howard’s background in the Sarah Records’ band Brighter is a contributing factor.

Probably, it has something to do with the fact that Harper Lee has previously done an utterly amazing song called Train Not Stopping.

Certainly, something about the band’s address appeals especially to me.

Anyway, this was everything I needed right now.
Thank you Keris Howard, thank you Laura Bridge, thank you Harper Lee.


Listen to Harper Lee at Matinée Recordings

Everyday Sensations are another band that has come in range of my Swedish indie pop radar.

They released an EP recently titled Boxing Days. It features five tracks including a cover of Lindsey Buckingham's Holiday Road. The band have made four tracks from the EP available on My Space and, one of them, Things We Never Had is one of the best songs I have heard all year. It has "indie pop" written all over it and then just for good measure shouts it out all over the rooftops. Because it's that good it has already seen it's first cover by fellow Swedish artist Twinkling Streams.

Everyday Sensations - Things We Never Had
Twinkling Streams - Things We Never Had

The band have also had a track from last years Imac Hit Parade remixed. It's called Eslove and has been remixed by Anders Hemmingson. It's pretty good although I have not heard the original to compare it against.

Everyday Sensations - Eslove (remix)

For details of how to get the Boxing Days EP see their website.

[My Space link]

The BMX Bandits will be playing London's Bush Hall, this Saturday October 7th 2006. Support comes from The Pearlfishers and tickets can be purchased from either the venue or Ticketweb. Tickets are priced £9.50 with the doors opening at 19:30hrs. Sadly I'm away this weekend or I would have been there.

[My Space link]

Labrador, who seem to be making a habit of this sort of thing, have made available a free download single from [ingenting]. The band are the only one on the label who sing in their native Swedish.

The single is a prequel for their 2nd album Mycket Väsen För Ingenting which is due out on October 18.

[ingenting]- Punkdrömmar

[My Space link]

Dyrdin are an Icelandic band have been around in one guise or another since 1994 although this album is their first release and one I have been waiting for since I first came across the band a couple of years ago.

All but two of the songs are sung in English and the melodic indie pop tunes don't take long to overcome the language barrier. The songs are about Jón Sigurðsson who is Iceland's independence hero, love affairs with aliens including Star Trek's Mr Spock, ruined romances and kissing frogs amongst other occurrences that can somehow be applied to daily tales of life. Indeed the songs, which posses a certain charm when sung in their native tongue, and their bizarre subjects could easily pass for Norse sagas for the 21st century.

Standout tracks are prins í álögum (The Frog Prince) and snjofolk (Snowfolk) which bounce along and in doing so scream fun, fun, fun! Taking elements of C86, Sarah records and indie pop in general Dyrdin have put together a collection of well crafted and infectious pop tunes that you will want to play time and time again. Buy it and get bopping! You know it makes sense.

The album is out this week on Skipping Stones, the home of The Besties and The Charade and further demonstrates how essential the label is becoming in the indie pop world. Dyrdin will be playing Popfest which takes place between 6th and 9th October in Northampton, New England.

Dyrdin - Popp & Co
Dyrdin - Bubble Girl

[Buy from Skipping Stones]
[My Space link]

Any band who state their influences include The Rosehips, Bubblegum Splash, The Fizzbombs and the Shop Assistants amongst others is going to sit fine by me. Funny enough on their My Space page Leeds based The Manhattan Love Suicides make no mention of The Primitives, whom they actually sound like. It's 1986 all over again with fuzzy guitars, feedback and are you sure that's not Tracy Tracy on vocals?

This is fantastic stuff and I've been streaming their music constantly since first running across them. There is a self titled debut album scheduled for release in November (Squirrel Records in the UK, Magic Marker in the States) and I for one cannot wait as I'm a sucker for this sort of music. Oh and they wear all black too!

The Manhattan Love Suicides - Suzy Jones

I came across this lot via The Coast Is Clear blog which is a German indie pop blog. I cannot read German but the bands the writer Parklife covers are excellent in the main.